The Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) held its Heritage Day festival at the school’s Alexandria, Virginia campus yesterday. The annual event highlights the diversity of ISA’s international student body.

Visitors at the festival enjoyed a program that included fashion shows of traditional dress, musical performances, Arabic and English songs, poetry recitations, and skits about American history. Students also performed traditional dances, such as Egyptian and Sudanese wedding dances, a traditional Saudi dance, Irish step dances and the Levantine dabka.

Exhibits from around the world transported visitors to each of the countries represented at ISA, with knowledgeable staff at hand to provide insights into the various cultures. For the first time, Europe, the United States and South America were represented in the exhibit hall.

Students also brought in dishes from all over the globe, transforming the school cafeterias into a smorgasbord of tastes and flavors ranging from classic Arab dishes to fried chicken and spicy South American meatballs.

Founded in 1984, ISA offers a bilingual English-Arabic curriculum that prepares students for universities in the United States or the Middle East. It has two campuses, one in Alexandria and one in Fairfax. The school is fully accredited with SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) and with CITA (Commission for International and Trans Regional Accreditation).